Completing The List

8. Visit Our Little Lady

     Liz and the girls were on their way to the statue of liberty. The statue was the very same beacon of hope and freedom that many people passed by on their way to become a part of the nation that used to take in all comers. Just as they were approaching the area where they would have to travel by boat to get to the small island that held the statue, Lizzy's phone began to ring. She didn't want to answer it because she was so excited about knocking off two items from the list in the same trip. She changed her mind when she realized it was a Jared calling from the firehouse, and likely calling to check in.

     She opened the phone and tried to answer as naturally as possible. "Hey Jared."

     "Hey Liz, how are things going?" Jared asked. He had been checking up on her about once a week just to make sure she had been faring well.

     "I'm doing fine." Lizzy said as she looked out the window at the statue from a far distance. "I'm on my way right now to visit the little lady."

     Jared paused for a moment. "What are you doing in North Carolina?"

     "I'm not in North Carolina." Lizzy replied, "I'm in New York. We're going to see what I thought Hayden referred to as the little lady."

     "Then you're in the wrong state, Liz." Jared said, "The little lady Hayden talks about is the same little lady we talk about here. That's Margaret Davies, current resident of Grace Harbour retirement home in North Carolina."

     "Why North Carolina?" Lizzy asked.

     "Well, we wanted to pick a place that had good weather." Jared answered. "It was also a little cheaper because one of the chiefs knew the guy who runs the place and we got a bit of a sweet discount."

     "I don't understand." Liz asked. "How do you know her?"

     "We saved her." Jared continued. "Hayden pulled this old lady out of a fire and she lost everything she had. She had no family and no where to go, so Hayden came up with a plan. We all take a levy out of our own pay checks. With ten guys in the house, we were forking over a thousand smackers a month to help this lady out. We registered her with the nursing home and have a tab with them that we pay every month. We felt for the lady and Hayden wanted to make sure she was taken care of her. That's the little lady he was likely referring to because that's what we all call her. She's our little lady."

     "Oh, I didn't know that." Lizzy confessed, somewhat embarrassed.

     "We don't really talk that much about it." Jared confessed. "We don't advertise that we would help people out that much or everyone would want the hand out."

     Jared paused for a moment. "You're at the statue of liberty, aren't ya?"

     Lizzy knew she was busted. "Well... yeah."

     "Yeah, well considering the info you had to work on, that was a good guess." Jared had a chuckle at their expense, but she didn't mind. "Look, if you really want to meet the real little lady, I'd be happy to text the address and telephone number to your phone. Okay?"

     "Alright, I appreciate that." Lizzy replied.

     "No prob Liz." Jared said, "Have fun at the big apple."

     "Thanks Jared." Lizzy closed the phone to disconnect the line and tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Change of plans: back to the hotel."

     "Are you sure?" the driver asked, "We're almost there."

     "I'm sure." Lizzy said as she sat back into her seat. "This isn't the right place."

     Once they got back to the hotel, Gale and Anna were dying for answers. They didn't get any until they got back to the privacy of their own room. Lizzy gave them the skinny on what they term 'little lady' meant to the firemen of their house, and that the woman Hayden wanted to visit is in an retirement home that he and the rest of his house paid for in North Carolina. There was no need for Lizzy to be upset at all. It was a simple misunderstanding and even Jared had confessed it was a good guess for someone who didn't really know what the item was about. Their attempt to visit that statue was a good guess and would make sense if you didn't have access to the real story since this item came right after the park. The girls lounged in the living room pondering what to do next.